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20 Sept 2013

Pinch Yourself: 20 Pictures You Will Not Believe Are Not Photos

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There are a lot of things in the world that are hard to believe. Face the truth – eyes lie to us. Or, more specifically, our mind does not let us understand simple visual information which is used in optical illusion tricks.

Optical illusion is visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. I bet, you remember all those visual puzzles of “a rabbit and a duck” as the same object and so on. Well, that is just a simple example of the capability of visual artists who play with our vision and our mind. Furthermore, there are artists who specialize in the art form of illusion. Magicians produce something from nothing, literary. Probably, the first magicians were witches, who created all that “hocus pocus” stuff, which led them to be burnt on the fire.

Later, the art of magic evolved and illusionists, who “had the power” to make things disappear or, vice versa, appear in from of the eyes of the audience, became very popular. For example, David Copperfield or David Blane are one of the most popular illusionists in the world, who attract the attention of the huge audience. David Copperfield had once made a jet disappear. Next time his audience could not believe their eyes – The Statue of Liberty simply vanished!

Nowadays, there is another kind of artists, who play with our mind. They create pictures which are a great enigma of visual perception. Dare to tell – whether it is real or not. You know these artists very well. There is a high probability that they would be burnt alive if it would still be the Medieval Ages. However, it is the 21st century right now, so the magic is a lot more tangible – it lies behind the keyboard and the screen. And those magicians are 3D artists.

So, once again, CGTrader wants to introduce you to some of the most photorealistic 3D renderings.

Ouverture I

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Atelier Feuerroth

This 3D rendering of a bedroom in a loft-type apartment is made by Michael Feuerroth from Karlsruhe, Germany. He made five parts of "Ouverture". It took 4-5 weeks to make the whole project for him.

Here is what he says about this masterpiece: "The Story behind this work is simple. The theme is contrast. In german, attic is called "Dachboden" - two words brought together. Dach and Boden mean ceiling and floor. This was an interesting word - very contrasting. Then one thing leads to another: cheap - expensive, dark - bright, new - old. Combined with a bit of atmosphere. Et voila. This is only a couple of the ten shots made from this attic. Enjoy."

These ARE the droids I'm looking for

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Joel Erkkinen

If you are a fan of "Star Wars" and "The Simpsons" (I am), this might make you smile. The Emperor as a teacher uses his "The Force" to educate his warrior and makes him write lines on the blackboard as a punishment.

Joel Erkkinen from Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area, USA created this for entertainment: "I thought it was a funny concept so I went with it.

Everything was made in Maya and rendered with Mental Ray. No Photoshop was used. Some adjusting in After Effects".

Clint Eastwood

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Luo Qisheng

This brilliant portrait of Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood comes from Shanghai, China. Luo Qisheng is extremely talented digital sculptor and texture artist. Just look at those shades and lighting. It is needless to say that Luo Qisheng is amazingly dedicated to his work and is a true perfectionist.

Some words from the author: "I used Zbrush and Maya to model, Photoshop for texture and Mental Ray for the lighting and rendering work."

Henrik Bus Art House

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Jeffrey Faranial

Have you ever wondered, how does a house of a fashion designer look like? This is an Art House owned by Henrik Bus. It was done in 3D Studio Max 2013, V-Ray and Adobe Photoshop. Black and white colors dominate in this rendering.

And here's why: "When I sew the front cover of the Livingetc Magazine, July 2013 issue, I was struck by the image. It really got to me… From the minimalist style to the black-and-white color palette which is always appealing for my liking", - said Jeffrey Faranial.

You can find more information about making this and few other visualizations of this Art House here.

Then Flying The Youth

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Shang-peng Leng

Another nice 3D rendering from Shanghai, China. Stunning details. Even for 3D artists it is hard to tell that it is not a photograph. Modeling such detailed hair is a very hard challenge. Well done. The author said that he wanted to share beautiful moment with everyone. And he succeeded.

"This is one of my latest personal works. The intention is to capture the touching expression of the young girl in soft breeze", - said he. It was rendered with Vray.

Maya and V-Ray hairshader were used for her hair and feathers.

Living room and dining room

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Marwan M. Saliba

This 3D artist is an awarded specialist of architectural visualization. And it is not hard to tell, why he got all the awards he got. Ultra realistic shadows and look-like natural lighting make his works unique.

Software used to create this rendering: 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop, Mudbox.

Spider Crane

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Tim Diaz

This Spider Crane is just some kind of practice of modeling objects on hard surface. It must be really helpful for Tim Diaz, because now he is working on Halo for the Xbox One.

Find out, how it was made (step by step) here!

The Chair

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Eduardo Souza

The Brazilian artist came up with the idea of modeling and rendering a simple chair, when he wanted to develop his skills in working with lighting and textures.

Eduardo Souza declares that he is always motivated to maintain his skills and knowledge sharp: "Build quality has always been my imagination and it is with this that work every day to be able to achieve my goals. I always try to stay current with what is newest on the market, because it is being renewed day by day." Software used: 3Ds Max, Photoshop, V-Ray.

Twisted Sensation

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Yasin Hasanian

Okay, now. This one is just breathtaking. We were speechless, when we saw this masterpiece. Yasin Hasanian admitted that it was really challenging to create the hair that perfect. But he succeeded.

"The inspiration comes from the works of an amazing hairstylist, Linh Nguyen, - said Yasin. - I used Shave and Haircut for the hair, ZBrush was used for sculpting and doing an initial layout plus a few Fibermesh stuff. Except the character's hair which is 80% made with Mental Ray, everything else is rendered in Arnold."

IFA

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Marcel Haladej

Slovakian artist gives us a look at the historic reality of Eastern Europe. In this picture he depicted a rebuilt process of the city.

"After quite a long time I finished my personal project called IFA. Idea is inspired by "rebuiling" a part of the city, where all old houses and gardens were replaced by new commie blocks. This is how a small village became the largest borough", - Marcel Haladej said.

Made in 3ds Max. Crane was textured in Mari, rendered by great V-Ray and postproduction was done with Photoshop.

Simón Bolívar

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Visual Forensic

Simón Bolívar was Venezuelan military and political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He played a key role in Latin America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire.

As he lived in the 18-19th century, no wonder, that no photographs of him were made, as photography was not invented yet. So, how did the specialists of Visual Forensic came up with such a detailed picture of Venezuelan legendary leader?

A permission to work with Ctscan database of the historical figure was given to them by Venezuelan official forensic team. The resulting pictures were presented in Caracas, Venezuela by the president Hugo Chavez himself.

New York Apartment

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Dennis Kaya Iversholt

A lot of people all around the world dream to visit New York City. Some of them even dream to live there in a typical apartment of the Big Apple which they have seen in some movie.

Dennis Kaya Iversholt has shared his and his friend's vision of that apartment with others. "I did this project together with my friend Ove Simonsen, who modeled the apartment and most of the props in Autocad, - Iversholt said. - He has always had a thing with New York apartments, with their blend of old and new and when he watched the movie "Autumn in New York" he was immediately fascinated by the apartment of the main characters and started modeling it in AutoCAD."

Software used: AutoCAD, 3Ds Max for modeling, V-Ray for rendering and Photoshop for postproduction.

EGR-8 Mobile Welding Machine

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Daniil Alikov

Do not ask us what this is. It is something from the future that looks really good and scary realistic. This is what we know for sure. Ask the author about this creature.

"Walking welding machine operated by human. Made in post-apocalyptic world of near future. Design inspired by nature", - here is the answer by Daniil. Software: Maya, Mudbox, Photoshop, V-Ray, ZBrush. P.S. It had already inspired someone.

Every Last of Us

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Michael Knowland

An action-adventure survival horror video game "The Last of Us" was released this summer. It was developed by Naughty Dog. Michael Knowland was one of those who created characters for this game.

Natural Replacement

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Stefan Schneider

What if everybody suddenly dies and the Earth is left with the population of totally zero people? Well, it is not hard to imagine that everything would become a jungle.

However, imagine the cities left with no city-dwellers. All those industrial and urban buildings left to crumble. Creepy aftermath of the apocalypse. This is how Stefan Schneider imagines environment of an abandoned city. Looks like a photograph from the future. So, better stay (or become) environmentally friendly.

Da Nao Tian Gong

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Wei Long Zhong

Still here? Great! Because we have hidden this epic masterpiece in the end of our list. Amazing, spectacular, striking, unbelievable... name the adjective yourself. WOW. Wei Long Zhong made this remarkable rendering to portray a daily routine of an artist in opera.

"It shows a normal performing artist of Beijing opera who is painting face before his performance in the backstage. The last step is tracing over the golden eyes", - said the author.

Software used: 3ds Max, ZBrush, Mudbox, Photoshop.

Moroccan Majlis

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Muhammad Taher

And the last (but not least!) 3D rendering. This marvelous 3D rendering of Moroccan Majlis is just a part of architect and CG artist Muhammad Taher's project.

Software used: 3ds Max, V-Ray, Photoshop and Lightroom.

Lost Lake

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Marek Denko

This rendering has inspired another 3D artist who’s work is in this list. So, this one could be called a work of a master, who is like a teacher for a then-student. That is a good example of how CG artists inspire each other in a way of evolution. Actually, this rendering is just a part of what has been left after the unlucky accident.

"“I had this little accident with HDD and this render is the only thing left I found on my FTP from this lost project. So I called it Lost Lake. There won’t be any wireframes or any shade views this time”, - said Marek.

After Carnival

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Olga Anufrieva

Carnival might be over, but the impression of it is still here. Olga Anufrieva made this remarkable portrait of the artist to reduce the nostalgia which she feels for Venice: “"Work dedicated to Venice. Venice - a wonderful place. I like it. Carnival is over. And it is sad...”"

Software used: 3ds Max, Photoshop

Irkutsk Guard

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John Yu

Amazing colors brought to you by John Yu. He just wanted to show you the Irkutsk guard. That is it. Simple as that.

Modeled in 3ds Max, rendered with VR2 and postwork made in Photoshop.

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